Bangladesh is known as one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world because of its geographical location and the adverse effects of climate change present a range of development issues and challenges that call for a strong policy response to address them. The government of Bangladesh is committed to address the vulnerabilities arising from climate change, formulating policies and frameworks.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been supporting the finance division to prepare the climate budget report for Bangladesh through its ‘Inclusive Budgeting and Financing for Climate Resilience (IBFCR)’ project.

The first climate budget report titled “Climate Protection and Development: Budget Report 2017-18” published last year and inspired by that the second report “Climate Financing for Sustainable Development: Budget Report 2018-19” was placed by the Honorable Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith during his Budget Speech for FY 2018-19. Based on the learnings from last year, the report this year reflects climate expenditure of 20 line-ministries having projects and programmes with climate relevance.

The cumulative budget allocation of these twenty ministries/divisions accounts for 45.84 percent of the total national budget of FY2018-19, and out of their total allocation, 8.82 percent is climate relevant. The report also provides breakdown of allocation for each ministry/division by the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP)thematic areas, and it shows that among the six thematic areas, maximum allocation was made to Food Security, Social Protection and Health, followed by Infrastructure and Comprehensive Disaster Management.

The report also highlights the alignment of Country Investment Plan for Environment, Forestry and Climate Change (EFCC-CIP) and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) with BCCSAP, and tracks allocations under different pillars and programmers. In addition, it provides an overarching view of Bangladesh’s overall vulnerability to climate change, relevant conventions, protocols and agreements, the legal and policy environment, the global climate financing landscape and the state of climate financing and governance of climate funds in Bangladesh, including the climate fiscal framework.

The climate budget report concludes with the expectation that with its expanded coverage this year, it will be able to draw the attention of wider stakeholders to the pattern of resource allocation by government to address climate vulnerabilities, satisfy their demands for information from public domain and provoke their thoughts on climate finance. It will also bring to sharper focus the government’s commitment for establishing enhanced transparency in all public spheres while providing assurance to the citizens that it is committed to allocate resources to build climate resilience.